Arc-lamp hanger.



No. 635,699. Patented Oct. 24, |899. G. E. MGCDRMAC & S. J. LAPTHORNE.

ARC LAMP HANGER.

(Application led June 17, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l,

f6 gim- :s l, I l

No. 635,699. Patented Oct. 24, |899. G. E. MGCORMAC & S. J. LAPTHORNE.

ARC LAMP HANGER.

(Application Blad June 17, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

GLEE E. MCOORMAO AND SAMUEL J. LAPTHORNE, OF ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS TO JOHN L. ZEIDLER, OF SAME PLACE.

ARC-LAMP HANGER.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,699, dated October 24, 1899.

Application led 31111@ 171 1399l To all whom it may concern.:

Beitknown that we,GLEEE.MCOORMAGand SAMUEL J. LAPTHOENE, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invent ed a new and useful ArcIJamp Hanger, of which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to are-lamp hangers, and has for its object to provide simplilied and improved means Jfor supporting` an arclamp, whereby it may be lowered for trimming and returned to its operative position by means of asingle operating cable or rope, and in this connection to provide a hanger wherein the weight of the lamp is supported independently of the operating-cable when the parts are in their normal or operative positions.

A further object of our invention is to provide a simpliiied and improved construction and arrangement of contacts, whereby the circuit is eficiently and positively closed upon the return of the lamp to its normal position after having been lowered for trimming or repairs.

A further object of our invention is to provide automatic means for short-circuiting the terminals or contacts of the line-wire to cut out the lamp, wherebyit may be lowered and trimmed without exposing the operator to danger, and to provide such means for shorteircuiting as to provide for cutting out a lamp without causing other lamps in the same circuit to iiash.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hanger which may be used in connection with either a bracket, mast-arm, or a suspension-cable and wherein the lamp-snpporting devices and operating mechanism are completely and efiiciently housed to exclude moisture, sleet, snow, (be.

A further object of our invention is to provide ahanger of such a construction that slack line-wires may be avoided, whereby the lamp may be lowered through a space, as between trolley-wires or other obstructions, which is but slightly larger than the body of the lamp without causing the grounding of the circuits or otherwise exposing the operator to the risk of a shock.

Further objects and advantages of this in- Serial No. 720,946. (No model.)

vention will appear in the following description,and the novel features thereof will be particularlypointed outin the appended claims,it being understood that the improvement is su ceptible of various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minondetails of construction without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side view, with the housing or hood in section, of a lamp-hanger constructed in accordance with our invention, the lamp-supporting plunger being lowered from its normal position. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the hood, plug-seats, and adjacent parts on a piane at right angles to that of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is avertical sectional view of the lamp-hanger viewed from the same position as in Fig. l, the plunger being shown seated, as when the lamp is in operation. Fig. e is a detail sectional view of a portion ofthe apparatus, showing the plunger upwardly displaced from its normal position to cause the adjustment of the plunger-supporting clutch. Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the hood or housing in section upon a plane indicated by the line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. t5 is a detail view in perspective of the plunger-supporting clutch. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the upper or positive plug socket or seat. Fig. 8 is a similar view of the lower plug socket or seat.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the figures ol the drawings.

In the drawings we have shown the lamphanger embodying our invention supported from a mast-arm IO, with which are engaged clamps 1l at the tcp of the trunco-eonical or bell-shaped hood l2. In the construction illustrated the hood, which may be of sheet metal, is provided with a cap 13, having the lower members of said clamps intermediately formed thereon, and also being extended laterally in a plane at right angles to that of the mast-arm to form supporting-arms l-i for the line-wire l5, said arms being provided with suitable insulatingknobsIG for contact with the wire. Near its lower edge the hood is fitted with a transverse partition or bed-plate 17, which supports the positive and negative plug seats or sockets 1S and 19,preferably provided with interior spring contact-iin gers 20 and 21. These plug seats or sockets are provided or connected, respectively, with binding-posts 22 and 23, in which the terminals of the adjacent portions of the line-wire are secured, said parts being suitably insulated to prevent short-circuiting. The lower or negative plug seat or socket is preferably of larger diameter than the upper or positive seat, and the plunger 24, which carries the positive and negative plugs or contacts 25 and 26, is correspondingly proportioned to adapt the upper or positive plug, formed by the reduced upper end of the lilunger, to pass through the lower seat or socket with facility. ln the construction illustrated the upper or positive plug or contact is connected by a suitable conductor 27 with a bindingpost 28, to which one terminal of the lampwire 29 is attached, and the lower or negative plug or contact 2G is provided with a binding-post 30 for engaging the other eX- tremity of the lamp-wire. Thus the terminals of the line-wire are positively attached to xed or stationary portions of the hanger, while the lamp-wire, which is carried by the lamp, and hence is movable therewith, is provided with terminal contacts 25 and 2G, which may be arranged in operative relation with the terminals of the line-wire (consisting of the seats or sockets 18 and 19) to complete the circuit through the lamp. Therefore it will be seen that in order to allow vertical movement of the lamp, to facilitate the trimming thereof, it is unnecessary to employ a slack line-wire. The movement of the lamp is not dependent upon slackness of the linewire. At its upper end the plunger is provided with an eye or insulatingknob or button 31,with which is engaged the lamp-hoisting cable or rope 32, which extends over a guidepulley 33, located at the top of the hood, and thence extends laterally through an opening in the hood and over a second direction-pulley 34, and finally downward to within reach of an operator. At the other end the plunger is provided with an insulating-knob 35, from which may be suspended a lamp of any ordinary or preferred construction, a portion of the top thereof being indicated in the drawings at 3G. lt is desirable, however, to provide for securing the plunger in the stationary member of the hanger without depending from the hoisting cable or rope as a support, and hence we have provided a revolublc supporting or clutch disk 37, horizontally disposed upon the plate 17 in a plane just beneath a shoulder 38, formed by a reduced neck portion 39 of the plunger, said disk being of mutilated construction or having its periphery cut away at intervals to form alternate notches 40 and supporting-ears 41, said notches 40 being adapted for registration with the bore of the positive plug seat or socket to allow the positive plug or contact to pass upward or downward therethrough. This supporting-disk,

however, is mounted for a step-by-step rotary movement, and whereas when the disk is in one position a notch 40 thereof is in registration with the upper plug-socket to allow the upper plug or contact of the plunger to pass upward or downward to or from its seat a single forward step of the disk is sufficient to bring an adjacent supporting-ear 4l thereof into the pat-h of downward movement of the shoulder 3S, whereby the plunger may be positively supported in its operative position or with its plugs or contacts located in the seats or sockets. For simplifying the operation of the lamp-supporting mechanism we provide means whereby the adjustment of this supporting-disk to present either a supporting-ear or a concavcd or cut-away portion of its periphery toward the plunger may be accomplished mechanically, and a preferred embodiment of this feature of our invention is shown in the drawings and includes a feedratchet 42 and a pivotal feed-pawl 43, of which a tappet or arm 44 is arranged in the path of upward movement of the plunger. This pawl is provided with a return-spring 45, and the swinging movement of the pawl in opposition to the tension of its return-spring is limited by a :fixed stop, which may, as illustrated, be formed by the adjacent exterior surface of the upper plug seat or socket. Furthermore, it will be seen that the tappet or arm 44 of the pawl, while arranged in the path of the upward movementof the plunger, is located beyond the normal position of said upper end of the plunger, whereby to cause engagement of the plunger with said tappet it is necessary to displace the plunger upwardly from its normalposition. Suchdisplacementisindicated in Fig. 4, and by it the pawl is swung to the position shown in Fig. 4 to advance the supporting-disk through one step to present the succeeding face or portion of its periphery toward the plunger. lf the plunger is in its normal position or seated, with a convexed portion or ear 4l of the supporting-disk in the path of the shoulder 38, the upward displacement of the plunger necessary to cause the swinging movement of the pawl 43 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 will advance the supporting-plate to present a concaved or notched portion 40 of its face, whereupon the slacking of the hoisting-cable will allow the plunger to drop out of its seat, as indicated in Fig. l. On the other hand, after the completion of the trimming of the lamp the elevation of the plunger by means of the hoisting-cable until said plunger enters the plug seats or sockets and the further movement of the plunger to cause the engagement of its upper end with the tappet or arm 44 of the pawl (thereby swinging said pawl to the position shown in Fig. 4) will produce a second advance movement of the su pportin g-plate through another step, and thus will swing the succeeding convex portion or ear 4l of said disk into the IOC IIO

path of downward movement of the shoulder 38, whereupon the slacking` of the cable will allow the plunger to settle until said shoulder bears upon the supporting-plate. This relieves the cable of strain when the lamp is in use. Thus it will be seen that by the use ol a single cable we are enabled to lower and raise the lamp as required and to lock the lamp in its normal or operative position, so that the cable is relieved of strain, the manipulation ot' the locking device being accomplished by means of the same cable which serves to hoist the lamp. It will be understood that after each advance movement ot' the feed-pawl to move the supporting-disk throughaforward step said pawl is returned to its normal position, (indicated in Figs. l and 3,) and to allow such return movement the pawl is provided with a pivotal detent 4G, also held in its normal position by the abovedescribed spring 45. Furthermore, in connection with devices of this class, it is desirable to provide for closing the circuit, to cut out the lamp when it is lowered for trimming purposes, iirst, to maintain the continuous operation of other lamps in the same circuit, and, second, to reduce to the minimum the risk to which operators are exposed in trimming the lamps. Therefore in the construction illustrated we employ a switch Ll?, arranged to bridge the terminals of the linewire, or, in other words, to connect the positive and negative plug seats or sockets, said lever being pivoted at one end, as at 48, upon the positive socket and being adapted for engagement at its free end with a yielding` contact 4.9 on the negative socket. To insure the positive closing of the circuit, a switch-actuating spring 50 is employed, which serves to throw the switch-lever into its closed position when released. This switch-lever is provided at its upper end with a yoke 5l, carrying` a trip 52, said trip consisting of a lug which is arranged in the path of the upward movement of the plunger in approaching its normal position. Thus when the plunger is released and dropped to lower the lamp the trip is released and the spring 50 throws the lever 47 into its closed position to complete the circuit and cut ont the lowered lamp, whereas when the lamp is returned by the hoisting-cable to its normal position the upper end of the plunger comes in contact with the trip 52 just before said plunger reaches its normal position, and thereby trips the switch-lever and allows the current to pass through the lamp-wires. The contact of the upper end of the plunger with the trip 52, however, does not occur until after the plugs or contacts 25 and 26 are in electrical engagement with the plug seats or sockets, and thus there is no break in the current as the lamp is switched in. In the same way when the lamp is lowered the switch-lever is released and is thrown to its closed position to cutout said lamp before the plugs or contacts of the lamp have left the plug seats or sockets. Therefore in lowering a lamp for trim.- ming purposes or in returning the same to its operative position and throwing it into circuit there is no interruption of the current in the line-wire, and hence there is no ilash in the other lamps included in the same circuit.

Having described our invention, what we claim isl. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats orsockets forming linewire terminals, a lamp-hanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forming lam p-wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a short-circniting switch pivoted to one of the plug-seats and adapted to engage the other plug-seat during the disengagement and the initial engagement of the plugs with the seats.

2. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming linewire terminals, a lamphanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and 'forming lamp-wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a short-,circuiting switch pivoted to one of the plug-seats and adapted to engage the other plug-seat during the initial engagement and during the disengagement of the plug with the seats, and a switch-operating trip arranged in the path of said plunger, substantially as specified.

3. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming linewire terminals, a lamp-hanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forming lamp-wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a short-circuiting switch pivoted to one of the plug-seats and adapted to engage the other plug-seat during the initial engagement and during the disengagement of the plugs with the seats, and provided with a trip arranged in the path of the plunger, and adapted vfor engagement thereby to open the switch, substantially as specified.

il. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming linewire terminals, a lamp -hangersupporting plunger having plugs or contacts Afor respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forming lamp-wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a spring-actuated IOO IIO

short-circuiting switch pivoted to one of the plug-seats and adapted to engage the other plug-seat during the initial engagement an d during the disengagement of the plugs with the seats, and provided with a trip-lug arranged in the pat-h of the plunger for engagement by the latter when moved into its seated position, to open the sivitch, substantially as specified.

5. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming lineivire terminals, a lamp-hanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forming lamp-wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a short-circuiting switch pivoted to one of the plug-seats and adapted to engage the other plug-seat during the initial engagement and during the disengagement ot the plugs with the seats, and having a trip arranged in the path of said plunger; Where the plugs have a sliding contact With their seats, as the plunger approaches and leaves said trip, to cause the closing of the switch before the plugs are unseated, and the opening of the switch after the plugs are seated, substantially as specified.

G. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming line- Wire terminals, a lamp-hanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said .seats or sockets, and forming lamp-Wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a short-circuiting switch pivoted to one of the plug-seats and adapted to engage the other plug-seat during the initial engagementand during the disengagement of the plugs with the seats, and being yieldingly actuated to close automatically when released, a trip connected With the switch and arranged in the path of the plunger Afor opening the switch, and yielding contact plates or fingers arranged in the plug seats or sockets for forming an electrical contact before the plunger comes in contact with said trip, and for maintaining the electrical contact after said plungerleaves the trip, substantially as specied.

7. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided With alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming line- Wire terminals, a lamp hangersupporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and `forming lamp-Wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a mutilated plunger-supporting disk mounted for revoluble movement upon the stationary member of the hanger, for engagement with a shoulder of the plunger, and having alternate projecting and cut-away portions, and disk-operating means actuated by the plunger, for imparting a step-by-step movement to the disk, substantially as specified.

S. An arc-lamp hanger having a stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming line- Wire terminals, a lamp-hanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forming lamp-Wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a mutilated plungersupporting disk mounted for revoluble movement upon the stationary member ot the hapger, for engagement with a shoulder of the plunger, and having alternate projecting and cut-away portions, and disk-operating means consisting of a ratchet and a plunger-actuated pawl, for imparting a step-by-step advance movement to the disk, to bring di'll'erent portions of its periphery into operative relation with the plunger, substantially as specilied.

9. Anarc-lamp hanger havinga stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming line- Wire terminals, a lamp -hanger -supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forming lamp Wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets,'in combination with a plungersupporting disk revolubly mounted upon the iixed member of the hanger and having its peripheryprovided with spaced plunger-supporting ears and intermediate notches, a ratchet on the disk, and a feed-paivl arranged in operative relation with the ratchet and having a tappet or arm disposed in the path ot the plunger, wherebya step-by-step movement may be imparted to the disk to bring different portions of its periphery into operative relation with the plunger, substantially as specified.

l0. An arc-lamp hanger havinga stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets lforming line- Wire terminals, a lamp -hanger-supporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement with said seats or sockets, and forminglamp-Wire terminals, and a hoisting-cable terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in combination with a plunger-supporting disk revolubly mounted upon the stationary member of the hanger and having its periphery provided with alternately-located supporting'ears and notches, adapted for successive registration with the path of the plunger, the plunger having a shoulder for engagement by said ears, a ratchet on IIO the disk, and a pivotal spring-actuated pawl having a detent arranged in the path of the plunger, and also provided with a springaotuated yielding detent, substantially as speoied.

1l. An aro-lamp hanger havinga stationary member provided with alined positive and negative plug seats or sockets forming line- Wire terminals, a lamp hangersupporting plunger having plugs or contacts for respective engagement With said seats or sockets, and forminglamp-Wire terminals, and ahoistin g-oahle terminally attached to said plunger and extending through the plug seats or sockets, in Combination With plunger supporting mechanism, having an element mounted for step-by-step movement upon the stationary 

